SOUTH BEND -- Brought on stage amid a standing ovation, former Indiana Gov. Joe Kernan spread a wide grin as he accepted the Abraham Lincoln Hoosier Award Thursday under a canopy in the garden of the Oliver Mansion. Kernan was honored at the Northern Indiana Center for History's Annual Dinner, the museum's largest fundraising event of the year. The former prisoner of war and longtime South Bend resident is only the second person to receive the prestigious award, given by the Center for History. The award's first recipient, Dr. Otis Bowen, received it in 2000. Bowen, a Republican who served as governor of Indiana from 1973-1981, presented the award to Kernan, a Democrat. "I've been asked how Joe and I can be such good friends," said Bowen, referring to their different political party ties. "I say, Joe is simply a great guy. ... We never doubted the other's integrity." The Abraham Lincoln Hoosier Award is given to a person who has "demonstrated unique leadership and courage in supporting and advancing the rights and liberties of the American people." Kernan served three terms as mayor of South Bend and was recognized Thursday for his "tireless efforts and years of dedicated service to our community, state and country." This was the fourth year the dinner was held in the Oliver Mansion gardens. Without the money raised from the event, the museum would have to cut 10 percent of its budget, said Center for History Executive Director Randy Ray. Honoring Kernan at the dinner was an added component of the evening. "This is a great way to recognize someone who is a humanitarian, a hero and a Hoosier," Ray said. Charming the crowd with his humor, Kernan repeatedly had the group of 400 museum-supporters laughing. Kernan recalled his near-drowning experience at a local natatorium when he was 6 years old. Though he had never swum before, he signed up for a relay team anyway. "I dove in, came up, and didn't know how to swim," Kernan said. "I thought it was just going to come to me." More than 50 years later, Kernan is still enchanted with the city of South Bend, he said. "Now, having had the opportunity to spend the vast majority of my life in South Bend ... I'm very proud to call it home." Staff writer Mary Kate Malone: mmalone@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6137